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How do you get around fussy eaters? Tell us to win £100-worth of picture books! Ends midday 8 February

156 replies

SorchaMumsnet · 11/01/2017 09:34

Eat Your People! is a hilarious tale of fussy eating, guaranteed to get children giggling. To celebrate its publication, we want to know how you get around those pickier eating habits.

Do you think vegetables are yucky? Just wait until you see what Monty the Monster has on his plate!

Monty definitely does NOT want to eat his people. He'll eat his vegetables - every single one! - but he will not eat his people.

For your chance to win Eat Your People! and a £100 picture book bundle from Hachette, just tell us: what are your tips for dealing with fussy eaters?

This discussion is sponsored by Hachette and will close at midday on 8 February

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How do you get around fussy eaters? Tell us to win £100-worth of picture books! Ends midday 8 February
OP posts:
FeelingSmurfy · 16/01/2017 22:45

Eating with them and talking about our days, also good for finding out important stuff about school

Keep it relaxed

Get them helping in the kitchen, even if it does take twice as long and produce twice the mess!

KarenCBC · 16/01/2017 22:46

Sitting down together to eat worked for a while but not any more. DS3 is getting worse. My advice - hide the veg! I blend the spag Bol so he can't identify the veg. I also make a Mac and cheese with butternut squash blended into the cheese sauce.

Namechangenurseryconcerns · 16/01/2017 22:53

Just accept that most children go through phases and cycles of fussy eating and that as long as they are eating a balanced diet it doesn't have to be particularly varied!

Keep presenting different foods alongside those you know they like with no pressure.

Also, most children will be much less fussy if they are properly hungry so give them plenty of fresh air and exercise before meals.

justamoment · 17/01/2017 06:51

Start early and give as wide variety of flavours and textures as is appropriate from the beginning. Persevere with retrying different things over time and try not to get too stressed about it - I find my 3 are much more likely to go along with trying something new, or giving something another try when I'm (at least pretending to be) more relaxed about it and present in a way that you'd like their opinion on it rather than they feel pressured to just have to eat it. Where you can, ask if there's something that would improve it for them/what they find not quite right about it and when retrying foods, if poss give examples of things you or someone they know didn't used to like, but tried again one day and now really like, or ways you like certain foods cooked, even though they're not your favourites... Keep going - it is a joy worth pursuing to have (relatively) non-fussy kids who can eat at anyone's invitation with minimal stress or deliberation!

wallers5 · 17/01/2017 06:57

Bribery I am afraid! Eat up a spoonful of broccoli & then you can have a treat. Something sweet if you finish your plate.

lottietiger · 17/01/2017 10:20

I have found two ways that seem to work with veggies, one is giving my 3 year old his own veggie patch so he can grow potatoes, beans & carrots. he loves this and is keen to try the ones he has grown. The other is in pasta. My son is a mad pasta fan so instead of a tomato sauce we make a veggie sauce with beans, carrots, whatever we have really and use with stock, then add the pasta quickly at the end like a chunky soup. he loves it.

smithsurvey14 · 17/01/2017 11:16

Mine won't eat his veggies so I just make sure he snacks on fruit. As long as he is getting enough good stuff down him I don't see the point in arguing about foods he doesn't like YET.

Susangilley7 · 17/01/2017 11:54

Disguise vegetables in mashed potato. Make frozen lollies with stewed fruit. Also stewed fruit can be put into jelly. Making sure you don't exceed the liquid volume for the jelly.

asuwere · 17/01/2017 12:05

I try to not make a fuss. We always eat together at the table and all get the same. If someone has tried something on a few occasions and really doesn't like it, I will stop putting it on their plate but will still ask if they want to try again but no pressure.

Sometimes little things help, DD said she didn't like quiche, but when I gave her a slice of chicken omelette, she liked it - of course I waited until she had finished it before telling her it was actually quiche!

CordeliaScott · 17/01/2017 12:10

For some reason DD (2) eats best when no one is watching her so I usually give her a plate of food at her little table and then wander off. It seems to work as otherwise she says she doesn't like virtually everything on her plate.

She also seems to especially like to eat anything that is on my plate...

Clawdy · 17/01/2017 12:58

What worked with DD was never looking at her plate while she was eating, and pretending we were not remotely bothered if she ate it.If she thought we were watching her she would stop eating immediately. In the end, it's usually just a phase, and the more relaxed you can be, the better.

winklegirl · 17/01/2017 13:51

I have 2 fussy eaters - probably due to us pandering to their food rejections and offering alternatives.

We are trying a lot of the good advice on here - eating together, offering something they like and adding something they don't like, do raw/cooked version of same veg so they can choose, not making a fuss about having to eat, etc.

I also dabble with the 'Tiny tastes' technique by Lucy Cooke, but don't do it properly at the moment, maybe I will try it properly now I have thought about it again.... Lots of research evidence to back it up. So at the moment we verbally reward for trying anything new, but always make sure it is there alongside food they do like.

Also, don't buy certain things that they ask for all the time, so they just aren't available - e.g. DS6 would live on pain au chocolates for breakfast if he could, so we now only buy them occasionally for a treat.

boptanana · 18/01/2017 21:34

Sometimes I give my children a deconstructed meal which they love to be in control of and mix up themselves but wouldn't eat if I gave it to them on 1 plate. For example plain pasta, a bowl of pesto, broccoli, ham, pine nuts and cheese. Works for us!!

GiraffesAndButterflies · 20/01/2017 14:53

I insist on putting things on DD's plate but an emphatic that she doesn't have to try them if she doesn't want to. (One disliked thing max per meal.) However if she does try something she doesn't like, she gets praise and a sticker.

I make sure I'm busy and not just sitting watching her.

And to keep myself sane I hide behind the cupboard door and secretly eat chocolate.

knackeredinyorkshire · 20/01/2017 15:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

rosybell · 20/01/2017 16:23

My 5 year old is very fussy. He eats best when we don't try and force him .. just one mouthful etc. So I try and just be chatty and breezy at dinner time and don't comment on whet he has or hasn't eaten.

Also, just extending what he actually eats rather than forcing new foods. He likes fresh herbs weirdly, so lost meals I give him basil leaves and then will introduce parsley etc.

ButterflyOfFreedom · 20/01/2017 16:37

Put it on Daddy's plate!! They always seem to want what he's having - even if the same food is on their plate!!!

Oblomov17 · 20/01/2017 16:46

I have fortunately not had fussy eaters. It is surprising the lengths some parents have to go to.

foxessocks · 20/01/2017 17:32

We try and chat at dinner time and not pay too much attention to what our 3 yo is or isn't eating! If we draw attention to her she seems to stop trying stuff but if we chat and every now and then say well done to her for trying something she responds much better.

Doolallylally · 20/01/2017 17:37

We've always eaten as a family at the table. We've always made our meals an enjoyable family time. I have three DC and as soon as they could sit in a high chair they joined in with meal time.

I think it's really important to teach children the joy of food and associating a meal with a happy relaxed time. As adults we like to take time over our meal and to chat and socialise. Our children have been taught that, from the word go.

As a child moves from a milk diet onto proper food, it's very important to be relaxed and to make meals enjoyable for all.

We never made a fuss about food. We just offered the baby some of what we were having, so he could experience the different tastes and textures. We used the finger food, baby led method, and just used to give him a selection to play with and try out.

My three now love food and cooking with us. Gradually as they grew they had one to one sessions with one of us in the kitchen and they loved it.

They like coming shopping with us and helping to choose what we're going to eat.

CheeseEMouse · 20/01/2017 17:52

Fibbing. Sample conversation: "do you want shepherd's pie?" Toddler "no." Me: "OK, how about mash potato with mince in gravy?" Toddler "yummy!"

Honestly...

fish88 · 20/01/2017 18:21

Letting him eat odd combinations of food as long as the overall meal is balanced. At the minute he eats beetroot with everything!

Summerdays2014 · 20/01/2017 19:54

I find if I 'ignore' my one year old he eats way more than if I'm stood over him trying to encourage him to eat the things he doesn't want.

finova · 20/01/2017 21:15

Don't nag or bribe.
Give everyone the same but make sure there is something on the plate they'll like eg a veg or carb they favour.

vickyors · 20/01/2017 21:37

My daughter helps prepare the meals, and then she is much more likely to eat whatever we have cooked.